undue noise

experimental music in central victoria

metasonic 2

Allan’s Walk Artist Run Space, Bendigo

24th june – 24th july 2010

opening hours thurs & fri 11-4, sat 11-3

opening celebration sat july 10th 3pm with live music by doubleother

“hearing is another form of seeing” – sound art is increasingly being presented in galleries dedicated to visual art. So, what is sound art? “For many, it refers to sound-based art work (or at least art work where the principal focus is on sound) across the broad gamut of performance, installation and broadcast contexts, which departs from both traditional musical instrumentation and notational methods and frequently employs electronic media. Others may see it as an intersecting space with roots in post-Cageian music practice, or indeed ‘post-phonographic’ music practice, and installation art.” Julian Knowles, in an article entitled Sound Practice, Sound Thesis in RealTime No. 68 (2005).

Central Victoria’s sound art collective called undue noise has been organising events since 2002. This exhibition, entitled metasonic 2, at Allan’s Walk Artist Run Space features works by members of undue noise as part of the local component of the national Liquid Architecture sound art festival.

Following last year’s successful metasonic exhibition at Dudley House, we return with metasonic 2, featuring works involving sound, and sometimes more. Central Victorian artists involved this time are Paul Fletcher, Simon Howard, Bridget Robertson & Jenny King, Annie Piranha, Mathew Underwood, Michael Harkin, Andrew Goodman, Jacques Soddell. They will present a wide range of artworks ranging from simple listening experiences to interactive works, some audio only, others including video.

The activities of undue noise and Allan’s Walk Artist Run Space are proudly supported by the City of Greater Bendigo.

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catalog

In the walkway

A CHORUS OF IDLE FEET Andrew Goodman

sound, sensors, interactive

Statement: This participatory sound piece generates an every changing soundtrack through sensor’s reactions to light and the rhythm of pedestrians moving through Allan’s Walk. The title derives from Michel de Certeau’s essay ‘Walking  the city’ which explores the everyday act of walking as a bodily, temporal connection to space and a radical intervention in the structure of the cityscape. The work utilises an idea of a fractal concept of sound – an expansive, open ended and temporal soundscape that is in a constant state of reinvention and permutation.This work was constructed with the considerable technical and creative input of Tony Falla.

The artist: Andrew Goodman is a visual artist with an interest in interaction and participatory art work. He is currently a Master of Fine Arts research candidate at Monash University.

In Small Gallery

DRUM Jacques Soddell

sound, video. 4 min 5 sec

Statement: A reinterpretation of a poetic moment at Overground (a mini festival within this year’s Melbourne International Jazz Festival). A brief video clip of drummer Han Bennink (2010) + snippet of Han Bennink from Peter Brotzmann’s trailblazing free jazz moment Machine Gun (1968) + software = an abstract film.

The artist: Jacques is a Bendigo-based sound & video artist, curator of undue noise, presenter of possible musics on community radio (since 1983) and owner of Australian sound art label cajid media. In his work he manipulates everyday sounds and images, often beyond recognition, to produce abstract works, sometimes giving gthe feeling of a narrative.. Recent works include The River (2009) and I’m Dreaming of a French Meadow (with Jude Anderson, Cedric Peyronnet & Tara Gilbee) (2010). He was a microbiologist in a former life. http://jacques.cajid.com

EARTH-MOON-EARTH Jennifer King & Bridget Robertson

audio, mixed media

Statement: Earth-Moon-Earth, also known as moon bounce, is a radio communications technique which relies on the propagation of radio waves from an Earth based transmitter directed via reflection from the surface of the moon (used as a passive satellite) back to an Earth-based receiver. In 1953 the first amateur detection of signals from the Moon took place. From that time moon bouncing captured the imagination of “experimentally inclined” amateur radio operators around the world.

Earth-Moon-Earth follows an imagined trajectory to the moon and back via a composition of highlights from the archives of amateur radio operators.

The Artists: Since meeting at art school in the mid 90’s Bridget Robertson and Jennifer King continue to cultivate their enduring passion for tuning in to the audible Cosmos. The strange and beautiful realms of deep space and interplanetary phenomena are a shared denominator in the wellspring of personal myth which informs the artists’ ongoing pursuit of sound.

In Large Gallery

BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR Michael Harkin

Interactive audio/video installation

Statement: What do you wish for? First prize in the lottery? World peace? A miraculous cure? And what action do you take to realise those wishes?

We are instructed from an early age about concepts such as cause and effect and the physics of our world through Isaac Newton’s three laws of motion.

This installation is a manifestation of a lesser known theory, the three laws of (e)Motion, which state:

1. Doing nothing or avoiding the issue changes nothing

2. You can only do what you can only do

3. Every action or inaction has a consequence

You know what you have to do, why aren’t you doing it?

The artist: Michael Harkin is particularly intereted in the application of contemporary technologies and the development of contextually relevant interfaces in art. He believes that in any art experience, an interface should not only be intuitive but also form part of the actual content.

Michael has substantial experience in arts, media and technology-based projects, both in Australia and overseas. He has worked as an audio engineer with international recording artists such as The Three Degrees, Demis Roussos, The Fall, Shriekback, Aswad and James Morrison. He has played with seventies rock legends the New York Dolls.

Michael has received a number of prestigious awards and commissions including the 2000 ATOM award for Best Tertiary Multimedia and selection as a finalist in the Arthur Guy Memorial Painting Prize. ‘Wetland’, a major interactive installation, controlled by a region’s water consumption, toured regional Victorian art galleries (see www.headofideas.com.au/wetland). In 2007, a collaboration with James Rigby, Jane Thompson and Team Henderson was commissioned to create ‘Thirst’ – a live performance involving multi-screen interactive video projections controlled by the voices of five participating community choirs. In 2009, the 9m x 6m digital image, ‘A picture of the world and everything in it – Hargreaves St 2008′, commissioned by the City of Greater Bendigo was installed as part of the Hargreaves Mall redevelopment.

Michael Harkin completed a Bachelor Visual Art – Honours at La Trobe University, Bendigo in 2002. His arts practice, Head of Ideas, provides training, professional development and consultancy in the application of creative technologies for a range of corporate and educational bodies.

Michael continues to investigate methods of employing new media technologies for meaningful artistic expression and user experience.

Visit: www.headofideas.com.au

SWAMP ECHO Paul Fletcher

Suitcase Landscape Cinema

Statement: Light and shadows projected in a suitcase  were used to create animated sequences.

One state of the Suitcase Landscape Cinema is viewable in the Gallery as well as two slightly different animated perspectives/ 4 minute long films with their own synchronised audio landscapes monitored through headphones attached to the computer and surveyors’ monitor.

The film sequences were made entirely with low voltage lights and shadows projected inside the travellers suitcase and then edited digitally with a composition of natural field recordings and constructed/synthesized and manipulated ‘natural’ sounds. The suitcase itself was rescued from a hard rubbish collection. Echoes of a Swamp is a mixed visual and audio metaphor ; an echo as a metaphor of repeating and fading sound and memories and a swamp as a metaphor of reclaimed land, recycled nutrients, accumulation and recycling of experience. In essence a landscape of memory and experience.

The artist: Currently exploring the creation of audio and video landscapes and creatures in an attempt to intersect organic with synthetic-digital, abstract with figurative. Interested in creating something of the experience and immediacy of first seeing a previously foreign landscape and environment which seems at once somehow instinctively familiar yet totally unknown. I have been fortunate enough to play and work for many years with many forms of visual and audio art including screenprints, films, music, gardening and reconstructing vacuum cleaners, microwaves and other domestic objects.

CATALYST FOR CHANGE Simon Howard

audio 1 mn 33 sec

Statement: A voicescape looking at the transference of urban values into a rural landscape.

The artist: Simon Howard a central Victorian AV artist from Maldon, who aspires toward the experimental.

BURIED ALIVE Annie Piranha

audio 4 min 54 sec

Statement: Decomposition on a mountainside including foliage, mammals, birds, lizards and what not and the occasional hiker. The piece reflects the ghostly musings of bushwalkers past.

The artist: Annie works locally in the Maryborough region in sound design / sfx and soundtrack creation. Also perfoms regularly with various musicians gigging in the local area.

BRING IT ON, BANG A GONG! Mathew Underwood

audio 3 min 6 sec

Statement: Manipulating samples of natural sounds, gongs, Tibetan singing bowls and finger cymbals. The intention is to create a sonic atmosphere that may stir the savage beast that is usually hidden. Let the Beast out. Bring it on, Bang a Gong!

The artist: Lives in Central Victoria. Loves playing around with electronic sounds, samples, guitars and saxes. Enjoys the excitement and power of improvised music as a performer and listener. Studied music at La Trobe University, Melbourne, majoring in compostion. Has been member of Neon Mars Guitars and is in Planet Caravan. Was a primary school music teacher.